Self praises Calipari

Larry VaughtKSR Senior Columnist

Bill Self: "Cal's a unique guy. He is a unique guy. I mean that in a favorable way. He's raised the bar in some ways about how hard you got to get after it because it's been proven, he's going to get guys. If you're going to compete with him, you got to have those same type of guys."

New Orleans — Not only has Kansas coach Bill Self coached against Calipari, but he joined the Kansas basketball program after Calipari left the job that gave him his start in college basketball.

"I think that Cal is probably the best salesman that our sport knows. He does an unbelievable job of promoting Kentucky basketball through a variety of means. He's kind of changed recruiting in some ways for the most part through social media, a lot of different ways," Self said. "I think the one thing about Cal that goes unnoticed a little bit, although I don't think it does in coaching circles, is that he recruits good players, but he coaches good players. He gets them to buy in and do it his way. They're unselfish and they guard. I think that's a sign of a guy that can coach.

"But Cal's a unique guy. He is a unique guy. I mean that in a favorable way. He's raised the bar in some ways about how hard you got to get after it because it's been proven, he's going to get guys. If you're going to compete with him, you got to have those same type of guys.

"Certainly in the three years he's been at Kentucky, even before that at Memphis, nobody's recruited like he has. Nobody's coached his guys better, too, considering how many young kids he has, how he gets them all to play for one purpose."

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